The Battle Begins
by Ryan Lohner
Summary: Virtual season three, episode one. Joan takes her first steps in the fight against Ryan. Finished
1. Chapter One

Joan walked apprehensively into the church. It wasn't out of fear over what she'd see. On the contrary, over the summer there had been an enormously heartwarming outpouring of sympathy and assistance from the town, and now the church looked good as new, as well as Rabbi Polonsky's synagogue. No, her nervousness was about what she was going to do here. She thought she had hardened her resolve enough at home, but standing on the brink of actually doing it brought all her misgivings back out.

Joan shook them away with some difficulty. She had to do it, at least as a starting point. She resolutely walked through the building, and into the confessional. She put her knees on the kneeler, and looked at Father Ken through the latticed window. "Forgive me, father, for I have sinned. It has been two years since my last confession." Father Ken replied, "Tell me your sins, my child." "I have taken the name of the Lord in vain several times…when I've spoken to him."

Father Ken looked her in the eyes. "What was that?" he said. Joan hesitantly said, "For the last two years, I've been talking to God. People come up to me, tell me they're God, and give me some sort of assignment. At first I thought I was just crazy, but I started listening and when I do what these people ask me to, everything changes for the better."

Father Ken pondered this for a moment. Then he said, "You just wanted to talk about this, in a way that I couldn't ell anyone else, could you?" "Yes," Joan confessed. He went on, "I'm not sure what you want me to say. If all these things have happened like you say, then maybe you really are talking to God. It seems you've made your mind up about that, so what do you need me for?"

Joan replied, "I think I know who attacked this place and the synagogue." "Really? And you've figured this out through your conversations with God?" "Yes. God talks to him too, but he doesn't listen anymore. In fact, he's now fighting Him outright." "I don't suppose you know his name?" "Ryan Hunter."

Father Ken's face took on a very serious expression when he said, "Now that's a very serious accusation. Mr. Hunter has been one of our most generous contributors in our time of need. Why would he do that if he caused that need in the first place?" Joan stuttered a little as she said, "I don't know. But I still suspect him, and I just wanted you to know about it."

Joan left the church after receiving some instructions for penance involving rosaries and Our Fathers that she didn't really pay attention to. She knew she hadn't done much damage to Ryan, but she was only beginning.


	2. Chapter Two

Helen was busy cooking breakfast just before the first day of school. Will had left for work, and she began to hear the sounds of her children coming down the stairs. First was Kevin, the distinctive sound of the lift reporting his arrival. Shortly afterward, Joan and Luke raced down the stairs, rushing past their brother to get to the table.

After the food was served, Helen asked Joan, "So how's the college search going?" Joan lit up. "I've found a lot of places, actually. It's so much more fun now that I don't have to worry about going to the same place as Adam." Helen sighed. "You were so good together. I was really hoping that would last." Joan took the subject in another direction. "You know, I'm actually a little worried about him. I know his new job pays better and all, it's just I can't help thinking that Ryan guy doesn't have his best interests in mind."

Helen stopped eating. "What do you mean by that, dear? He's been nothing but pleasant in all the school board meetings." "I don't know, he just seems shady to me." Helen replied, "I'm sure Adam has good judgment about his well-being." To this Joan muttered, "Yeah, like how he just had that need to cheat on me." Everyone else's silverware clattered to the table and she realized she hadn't said that quite as under her breath as she meant to.

"Wh…what do you mean?" Helen said hesitantly. Kevin and Luke seemed frozen. Joan took a deep breath. "Okay. I broke up with him because he cheated on me. I managed to forgive him and we're still on friendly terms. That's it, please don't make it into anything else." Kevin interjected, "The hell with that, I'll go down there and pound his face in!" Joan shook her head. "No, please don't do anything. I'm begging you, I'm really just trying to keep this under wraps." Helen was shaking her hands. "How could you not tell us this?" Joan said, "It was a difficult moment, and it seemed like the right thing to do. I don't know what else to say."

Luke finally spoke up. "So who was it with?" Helen glared at the question, but Joan answered, "Bonnie." That got her mother's attention again. "Well, this will make my class very awkward. They were my two top students last year, and they're in my advanced class this year." Joan pleaded, "Just don't think about it. It's easier than you might think."

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

Adam waved Joan over after school. He said, "Listen, your mother was acting kind of weird in class, and Luke blew me off when I tried to talk to him and Grace. Is something going on?" Joan looked at him regretfully. "I sort of… told them why we broke up." "WHAT? Not your dad too?" "No, he wasn't there. I'm sorry, we were talking about you and it just came out. I'm just really sorry." Joan felt herself starting to tear up. Adam said, "Well, this will make things pretty interesting. Looks like now the only person who'll give me the time of day is Ryan. Excuse me."

Joan then realized the magnitude of her error. She was closer than ever to losing Adam to Ryan's influence, and would have to work extra hard to keep him on her side.


	3. Chapter Three

At the police station, Roebuck was returning as chief of police. He entered the building to applause from every officer, particularly Will. After the welcome died down, Roebuck headed straight toward him. "It's good to see you again, Will," he said. "Same here," Will replied. "Your replacement didn't do such a good job. It was quite a relief when the door opened for you to come back."

"So what's the big news around here?" Roebuck asked. "We got a tip that there'll be a high profile drug deal tonight. I'm part of the team that's headed there. There might be a little excitement." Roebuck's face turned serious. "Listen Will, be careful out there. I don't want to lose you right after I got back." "Don't worry, sir. I will be."

Will's cell phone rang, and he found Helen on the other end. "Honey, I have something to tell you. It's about Joan."

Aaaaaaaaaaaa

"So what was with that look at Rove?" Grace asked Luke as they walked home. Luke said, "He cheated on Joan. That's why they broke up." "I know," Grace replied without thinking. Instantly she realized her mistake. She turned to Luke to see him stop in his tracks. "When did you find out?" he asked.

Grace sighed inwardly. She'd started to talk about it, there was no going back now. "He told me a few hours before Joan found out." Luke didn't move. "And you never told me? How could you not tell me? She's my sister!" Then his expression turned angrier. "Wait a minute. You said she found out about it. Does that mean she didn't find out from you?"

Grace put on the most apologetic face she could muster. "Yes, it does." "Jesus, Grace! Why didn't you tell her? I thought you two were friends!" Grace hesitated a little. "I've known Rove my whole life. It was a confusing moment." Luke's expression didn't waver. "So that was more important than letting Joan know she was dating a cheating bastard?" "I was going to tell her, she just found out on her own before I could." "Well, seeing as you just said you had a few hours, you'll excuse me if I don't believe that." Luke walked off. Once she was alone, Grace felt a single tear slip down her face.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

Detective Carlisle munched on a twinkie as the officers awaited the perps. Will continued the rant he had been having for a good while now. "What, was my daughter just not good enough for him? I hope I don't ever see him again, or I don't know what I'll do." Carlisle said, "Okay, Will, we get it. It's getting close to the time we were told, so could you turn it down a little?" "Okay, I'm sorry," Will said. "You're right, the job is what's important now."

They silently watched as a group of men entered the alley. As soon as the money and the drugs were both visible they moved in, shouting at everyone that they were under arrest. Almost in slow motion, Will saw one of the men panic. Then he reached into his jacket, pulled out a gun, and fired…


	4. Chapter Four

In bed, Helen was having another nightmare. She was walking through a mysterious part of town she couldn't remember seeing before. She entered an alleyway where she saw what she had long since come to fear: the two clowns. She heard someone moving behind her, and turned around to find Will. She screamed out a warning, but before Will could get away the clowns pulled out oversized guns and fired at them.

She woke up to the phone ringing. Helen hesitated to answer, since if the catechism thing was real it was probably bad news. However, she quickly reasoned that not knowing the news wouldn't make it go away, and picked up. "Helen, it's Chief Roebuck," the voice on the other end said. "It's about Will." On the verge of tears, Helen asked, "Is he all right?" It seemed like an eternity before Roebuck answered, "No."

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

The Girardi family waited anxiously in the hospital for any word of Will's condition. Luke wondered out loud, "Just how much time are we going to spend in this place?" Detective Carlisle was also there, and had explained what happened. The crook who pulled the gun had been killed and the other one was arrested, but Will had been hit before it happened.

A doctor came into the room. Joan looked up expectantly, but it was not the doctor avatar that God had used before. He told them, "Will's condition is stable, but he's in a coma. It's difficult to tell how long these things will last." Helen visibly crumpled, as did Joan and Luke. Kevin stayed the way he was, but only because the event was too big to take in at the moment.

Just then Lily rushed into the room and ran straight to Kevin. "I just heard. What's going on?" After Kevin told her, Helen approached and said, "Lily, can I talk to you alone?" Kevin interjected, "Mom, please, no more about me and her right now, okay?" "KEVIN, NOT NOW!" Helen shouted. She looked around to see everyone startled by the outburst. "All right, let's talk," Lilly said.

They went down the hallway, and Helen quietly said, "It happened again. I dreamed this. When the detective out there was looking over the crime scene photos I snuck a peek and it's just like in the dream, but I've never been there." Lilly was clearly taken aback. "So, I guess your catechism is real. Now I'm pissed off." "What am I supposed to do with this, Lilly? It happened too late to do anything about what happened to Will, and I couldn't stop the church attack either." Lilly pondered that, then replied, "Maybe God is just making sure you know you have it first. When the time comes, you will be able to help."

Back in the waiting room, Joan asked to no one in particular, "Where's Adam? This is the second time he hasn't been here for me in this hospital." Luke said, "You did mess things up for him pretty bad with us today. I don't think it would be too comfortable if he did come." Joan responded, "Well, he still should have."

She wandered into the girl's bathroom, where someone else was washing her face. The girl said, "Good move, Joan, telling the priest." Joan looked the avatar square in the eye. "Why is this happening? Just when I get my biggest assignment I have to deal with this too? You know, mom told us that she did tell dad about what I said before he went out there. Maybe if he wasn't preoccupied with it, this wouldn't have happened, so I guess it's my fault, huh?" The girl said, "There can be a lot of things that can be considered your fault, just as many as you can be credited for. It's all part of the ripples, remember?"

"I'm losing Adam," Joan said. "He's totally on Ryan's side now. How am I supposed to fix that?" "You still have allies. People will help you. You've already shown that you can succeed, trust me on that." The girl walked out of the room, waving over her shoulder.


	5. Chapter Five

The next day, Joan visited Will in the hospital. She kneeled down next to the bed, cringing at the machines that monitored her father as he lay still, oblivious to the world.

"I'm so scared, daddy," she said. "So many things are happening right now and I don't know what to do. I didn't think anything could be harder than the last two years, but it can be. I wish so much that my grades and my social life were my biggest worries, but there's more."

She stopped, unsure of how to continue. Finally, though, Joan decided to go ahead. "I know you probably can't hear me, and that makes this a little easier. I've been talking to God. Heck, maybe He's explaining the whole deal to you right now. For a long time I didn't believe it, but a lot of good things have happened because I listened to Him. And you know one of those things that I'm most proud of? I built that boat, and let you and Kevin patch things up. That was really when I started thinking that maybe this thing was for real."

Joan sensed she had become lost in her thoughts. She quickly scanned her father's body for any movement, but there was none. "And that's why things are so hard now. He hasn't given me anything to do lately, except do something about Ryan Hunter. He talks to God too, but he doesn't listen anymore. That's why I asked you to listen to me about him. I know I may never hear your voice again, but I had to tell you. I may not have accomplished anything here, but if I'm going to have help I need to start somewhere."

The door opened, and Joan was shocked to see Ryan enter the room. She stood up and shot him an angry glare, saying "Get out of here NOW." "Easy," Ryan said. "I'm just seeing how your old man's doing. We did become a bit friendly, after all."

Joan gathered up all her courage. "I'm actually glad you're here, because I don't know when else I'd get a chance to tell you this. You said you thought of me as an adversary. Given our little connection, I assume that means you're going to try to destroy me." Ryan's face was unreadable. "And everyone I love as well." The expression remained the same. "Just know that if you start anything I am going to hit back with everything I have. I am not going to go down easy."

Ryan gave a little chuckle. "You'll understand if that doesn't seem like a very serious threat." "Oh, it is," Joan answered back. He continued, "You really have no idea what you're in the middle of, do you? Well, I wouldn't dream of spoiling things for you, but let's just say you have your work cut out for you." With that he left the room.

"You do too," Joan said to his departing form. The confrontation had unnerved her, but it had also increased her resolve to overcome whatever Ryan was planning, and fulfill the reason God had contacted her.


End file.
